The Quiet Ones
by Lady Adriane of Katherine
Summary: Exactly how did James, Sirius and Peter discover everyones favorite werewolf's secret?


A/N: Yeah I know I should be working on A Total Lack Of Quidditch but my sister is five years younger than me and we tend to bicker a lot but it is partly written so yeah I don't have a real excuse. Sue me...actually please don't I'm completely broke. 

**The Quiet Ones**

_So what if you can see, _

_The darkest side of me, _

_No one will ever change this animal _

_I have become! _

_help me believe, _

_It's not the real me, _

_Somebody help me tame this animal! _

_- Animal I Have Become _

_By: Three Days Grace_

"Hey do you know where Remus is?" James Potter asked Sirius Black as he walked in to the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah, his Mum is sick...again," replied Sirius a little darkly, especially for your average twelve year old.

"Oh...," muttered James quietly.

" Do you actually think that his Mum is that sick, all the time?" Sirius asked.

James only shrugged.

"Well I think she would have died by now," said Sirius completely honest.

James gave him a look.

"Well it's true."

A raised eyebrow was added to the look.

"Lets just work on our homework, okay," said James trying to distract Sirius. He didn't quite feel comfortable talking about Remus like this. He wanted to believe that Remus and all of them were friends, and friends weren't suppose to lie to each other. Right?

Sirius made a face at James and flopped into the chair across from him.

"Why did we start doing our homework," grumbled James.

"Because McGonagall threatened us with detention until seventh year. And because she threatened to take us off the quidditch team if we didn't start turning in our assignments."

"Oh yeah. She really knows where to hit us where it hurts doesn't she," said Sirius while he pulled out his books.

Later that night James, Sirius and Peter headed off to Astronomy class.

"Is Remus gone again?" yawned Peter.

"Hey Pete, how is it that we had a full day of classes and you didn't notice until now that Remus wasn't here today," snickered Sirius.

Peter flushed and shrugged. Sirius laughed and threw his arms over Peter and James shoulders.

"I'm just teasing you, don't be a girl about it."

Peter scowled and crossed his arms. James grinned and rolled his eyes at his friends antics.

"Welcome class to another night of Astronomy," announced their slightly off Professor Swift.

Professor Swift had long wavy brown hair that hit her lower back and wide hazel eyes. When the students saw her they flinched back a little bit, but the professor didn't seem to notice. Her bright green robes were hard for there eyes to adjust to after the dark walk up the tower. She had left her robes open to show her muggle clothing, a lavender flow-y skirt and a yellow gauzy shirt. At the beginning of the year she hadn't been wearing the robes at all. But some of the students had complained to Dumbledore saying that if a teacher didn't have to wear robes why should they. In the end Professor Swift was told to wear robes over her muggle clothing.

"Now pair up with a telescope. Come on, come on. Chop, chop we haven't got all day, or should I say night, haha," Professor Swift giggled at her own joke.

James and Sirius shook their head at her and wandered over to a telescope and Peter paired up with a random Hufflepuff.

"Now students take a look at the full moon tonight," was all the two best friends heard before blocking her out and making their own conversation.

"Hey it's a full moon, again," said Sirius while looking through the telescope.

"Yeah, the moon does that once a month," James replied.

"No, ugh. I know that but...well," Sirius dropped his voice to a whisper, "Did you ever notice that whenever Remus is gone, it's always a full moon."

James stared at him incredulously.

"You've bloody lost it."

"No, no, think about it," replied Sirius.

"You honestly think that shy scrawny Lupin is a...werewolf?" James dropped his voice even more to say the last word.

"Seriously, think for a second. Okay remember when we were all working on that dark creatures essay and when we started discussing werewolves. Remus got really twitch-y, but he knew practically more about them than the book did. And he's always gone on the full moon and always looks sick before he leaves and when he comes back he's always dead tired," said Sirius while trying to pretend he was doing his work.

"Sirius, I don't know. I mean can you imagine little Remus Lupin turning into a ferocious beast once a month," James said looking like he wanted to be more skeptical than he was.

"Well remember when we were eavesdropping on the sixth year boys and what's-his–face"

"Nathan," James interrupted.

"No, he's the guy with the black hair. I'm talking about the one with blonde," Sirius said showing that he really was easily distracted.

"Oh, that's um...oh man I know this...uh...oh Alex right," said James excited that he figured it out.

"Yeah that's it, and then the other two are Brad and Will, right. Wait, ugh, what was I talking about before...um oh right like I was saying, he said that it was always the quiet ones that you need to watch out for."

"Sirius, mate, Alex wasn't talking about werewolves. He was talking about girls."

"Well-"

But Sirius was cut off.

"Now boys get working on your diagrams or I'm going to have to separate you two up," said Professor Swift as she fluttered over to their station.

The boy gave each other a look that clearly stated 'we'll talk about this more later.'

The next afternoon the boys headed off somewhere that they never thought they would enter...the dreaded library.

"Okay, look for any books that have anything to do with learning how to tell if someone is a werewolf," James instructed.

Sirius gave a nod of understanding and they both set off to work.

After a few hours of research, all of the books gave the same symptoms that could also be caused by the common cold.

"Okay, time for Plan B Potter," announced Sirius.

"Yeah, I guess your right. But we have to be really careful, because I'm pretty sure that this could definitely get us expelled," replied James.

James and Sirius were still discussing the finer points of their mission when they walked into the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey, where have you guys been this afternoon?" asked a baggy eyed Remus Lupin.

"At the library," said Sirius honestly.

Remus stared at the two dark haired boys with his mouth hanging open slightly.

"...You guys actually _know _where the library is?: Remus finally managed to get out.

"Well, yeah of course we do. We know where everything is. Now the library is quite as useful as say the kitchens, but it's always important to be completely aware of your surroundings, you never know what could come in handy," said James, while digging in his book bag for a stray sweet.

"What were you guys doing in there anyway?" asked Remus.

"Oh...um...well...we...uh," stuttered James.

"Just checking to see if there was a new amusing jinx to use on Snape," said Sirius quickly while giving James a "what the hell is wrong with you look?"

"Oh, find anything interesting?" asked Remus.

"Nah, the librarian chick was looking at us suspiciously so we cut out," said James who had now moved onto Sirius' bag because his had officially become a "Sweets Free Area."

"Yes well most authority figures have learned to be wary around you," replied Remus.

"Wary? Mate you have got to take your nose out of those books sometime," Sirius said while shaking his head and patting him on the shoulder a few times.

Remus shoved Sirius' hand off his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

"So how were classes yesterday?" asked Remus.

"Eh, just the usual," replied James who had now moved on to ransacking Remus' bag.

"How many detentions did you two get?"

"Remus Lupin! I am shocked that you think that lowly of us, I mean –"

"We got two each," interrupted James," One from McGonagall and other from Swift."

"What did you guys do to Professor Swift? She's usually fairly laid back." questioned Lupin.

"We just kept talking after she warned us to shut up. Ah ha!" yelled James in triumph as he pulled a chocolate bar from Remus' bag.

Remus glared at James and snatched his book bag back.

"Can you guys tell me the class assignments, and give me the notes?" asked Remus.

"Well I can give you the assignments, but I didn't take any notes," replied James through mouthfuls of chocolate.

"How 'bout you Sirius, did you take any notes?" Remus asked again.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Right, stupid question. I'm going to try and find Lily and see if I can borrow her note," Remus said while walking out of the boys dormitory door, "and stay out of my sweets."

"So do you want to try and do the plan tonight?" asked James while digging through Remus' bag again.

"Definitely."

James and Sirius shut their dormitory door quietly making sure that they didn't wake up Remus or Peter. The boys threw James' invisibility cloak over themselves and headed down the stairs and out of the Fat Lady's portrait. They started walking in the direction of the hospital wing. Sirius pushed open the door as quietly as possible. There were a few beds with curtains pulled around them. James looked at the file at the end of one of the beds.

"Haha, some girl messed up a hair lengthening charm, now she's bald."

Sirius snickered, " Who was she?"

"Uh, fifth year Ravenclaw named Victoria Tucker," answered James.

"Hmm, don't know her," Sirius muttered.

"Alright come on. We need to do what we came here for," said James.

The two boys walked towards Madam White's office. They tried do open the door but it was locked.

"Alohomora," whispered James as he tapped the door handle.

The door clicked open and the boys entered the dark office and walked over to her desk.

"Alright, what exactly are we looking for?" asked James,

"How about this," said Sirius while pointing to a cupboard with _confidential _written across it in big bold letters.

"Works for me," grinned James.

They opened up the cupboard and winced in unison when the door squeaked.

"Okay find the L's," James told Sirius.

"Got it. L, L, L, L," muttered Sirius.

"Ooo found them, okay Lupin, Lupin, Lupin, where is Lupin."

"Found it," announced Sirius in a whisper.

They flipped the file open and started scanning the papers, ignoring the usual age, height, and weight.

"James," said Sirius quietly.

"What?"

Sirius pointed at something on the paper James eyes traveled to his finger and clearly saw the word "werewolf" in black ink.

"Poor Remus."

Two days later James and Sirius had completely processed and accepted the fact that Remus John Lupin was in fact a werewolf.

"We need to tell Peter today," James whispered in Sirius' ear at breakfast.

"Alright, but when?"

"I've got a plan."

The four second year Gryffindor boys walked to transfiguration class. The darker half slightly behind the other two.

"Now?" asked Sirius quietly.

"Not yet,"replied James.

"Now??" asked Sirius growing impatient.

"Right...now," whispered James.

They grabbed Peter's arms and disappeared behind and old tapestry.

Remus flipped around, "What the...?"

He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Figures," he muttered and entered McGonagall's classroom.

"Guy's what was that all about?" asked Peter angrily.

"Oh, calm down you big girl," grunted Sirius under his breath.

James hit Sirius in the back of the head.

"Not helping mate."

Sirius punched James in the arm.

"Cut it out you two, and tell me what's going on," snapped Peter.

James and Sirius looked at each other.

"Alright, but this is between us only, understand," said James while looking at Peter directly in his eyes.

"And if you do tell anyone, we'll make your life so bad that even Snape's life will look like a walk in the bloody park," growled Sirius while holding tightly on to Peter's shoulders.

"Of course, Marauders forever, right?" replied Peter looking confused.

James and Sirius grinned at each other.

"Knew we could count on you mate," said James.

"Count on me for what? Will you please just tell me what's going on!" Peter yelled the last bit.

"Well its about Remus."

James proceeded to tell Peter about the last couple of days, with Sirius throwing in his two cents at random intervals.

"S-s-s-so Remus i-i-is a...werewolf?" Peter finally managed to stutter out.

Sirius and James nodded. Peter was silent for another minute or so.

"I can't believe he never told us!" he yelled out.

"Yeah neither could we," replied James.

"So what do we do now?" asked Peter.

"Well, we planned on confronting Remus tonight," replied James.

"You with us?"asked Sirius.

"Of course."

That night the four boys were up in their room just relaxing and hanging out. Their unfinished homework lay scattered and forgotten on the floor.

"Where did you guys disappear to? We were all walking to transfiguration class and then only _I_ was walking to transfiguration."

"Oh well we needed to talk to Peter about something," answered James while fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt.

"What about," he asked.

"Actually we need to discuss it with you," Sirius said carefully.

Remus furrowed his brow.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Sirius opened his mouth.

"Sirius, let me handle it... subtle like, you know," said James.

"Will you please just tell me what you are on about?" snapped Remus.

"Where did you go last night?" James asked quietly.

Remus blanched.

"I-I-I told you, I w-w-went to see my mum...s-s-she's sick a-a-again,"

"You sure you want to stick to that story?" asked Sirius.

"Sirius! Knock it off, we agreed that I start," snapped James.

Sirius rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"What do you mean story? I-I-It's not a story, stuttered Remus nervously.

"Remus, um Sirius and I have another theory and Peter agrees with us," James carefully said.

"Theory?" Remus managed to squeak out while looking for how far away the door was.

Peter noticed and inched a few feet over, so he could lean on the door. Effectively trapping in Remus. He gulped.

"Whats this theory?"

"Well, you see...uh its like this...um," James rambled with dramatic hand gestures.

"Ugh, you're a werewolf and we know it," snapped Sirius throughly impatient with all of the stuttering and stalling.

Silence rang throughout the second year Gryffindor boys room.

'SMACK.'

"Subtle you prat," James hit Sirius in the back of the head.

"Well you guys were all acting like a bunch of girls about it. I couldn't watch anymore, it was disturbing," Sirius said while rubbing the spot that James attacked.

"I-I-I'm not a werewolf, why would you guys say that?" panicked Remus.

"Remus we know, you can quit pretending," said Peter while watching Remus carefully.

"How?" Remus managed to squeak out

"Well Sirius and I managed to figure out most of it on our own. Then we snuck into the hospital wing to confirm it," answered James.

Remus sank to his knees and the other three boys rushed around him.

"Remus are you alright?" James asked with nothing but concern.

Remus' eyes were wide and his mouth slightly open but he remained silent.

"Remus. Remus. LUPIN!" Sirius yelled the last bit and waved his hand in front of Remus' face.

"Remus are you in there?" Peter asked.

Remus still didn't answer them.

"Good going Sirius, you broke him!" snapped Peter.

"I didn't break him," Sirius snapped back, "But if you don't shut your mouth, I will break you!"

"Guys this isn't helping," said James," Alright Pete and I are going to go get some chocolate from the kitchens, Sirius go to the bathroom and fill up a glass of water. We'll be back as soon as we can."

James and Peter grabbed the invisibility cloak and took off out of the dormitory and down the boys staircase.

Sirius gave Remus a concerned look, patted him on the shoulder and walked into the bathroom. He grabbed a cup and filled it with water. Sirius turned toward the door way, Remus couldn't see him from this position. He was kind of nervous about going back in there, He wasn't great with the whole "sensitivity" thing and he had a tendency to blurt out whatever thought ran across his mind. A loud thud noise broke him out of his thoughts and he left the bathroom to investigate where it came from. When he entered the room he found Remus bent over and throwing random books and articles of clothing into his trunk.

"What are you doing?" asked Sirius confused.

"Packing," Remus mumbled not looking at him.

Sirius stared at him, "Why?"

Remus froze, "Because you know." he said finally.

"That you're a werewolf?" Sirius asked, "What does that have to do with you packing?"

Remus looked up, but he couldn't make himself look at Sirius' eyes, so he settled on his chest.

"Because I know I'm not welcome. I don't belong," he said quietly his voice racking slightly. James, Sirius, and Peter were his best friends, his first friends and he was going to miss them more than anything.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Sirius asked completely not understanding what Remus was talking about.

Remus finally looked into Sirius' grey eyes. Trying to find the look that Snape usually received from Sirius, but all he saw was pure confusion. Did Sirius realize that he was a werewolf? He knew that Sirius had some slow moments, but he was the one that actually came out and said it.

Sirius realized that Remus wasn't going to answer him.

"You are a second year right?"

Remus nodded.

"And you are a Gryffindor, correct?"

Remus nodded again.

"Then were the hell else would you belong?" asked Sirius.

"I'm a werewolf," was all Remus said.

"Yeah, we've discussed this already," replied Sirius.

"I'm an evil, dark creature! I'm not human! I don't deserve to be in Hogwarts! Or to have friends! Dumbledore was wrong, I can't- I don't fit it! I don't belong! I'm...unwanted," Remus fell to a whisper.

Sirius stared at Remus. He couldn't honestly believe all of that was true.

"Remus, mate, you don't honestly believe that, do you?" Sirius searched his eyes and saw that he honestly did think that lowly of himself.

"Okay, lets settle something right now. Number one, you study more than anybody I've ever seen, if you don't belong at Hogwarts then no one does. As for Dumbledore, he's kind of a genesis I think he knows what he's doing. And you are definitely not evil, you only change one day out of the month and its not even a full 24 hours. And friends? Are you kidding me? You've got to be the nicest guy i know. Everybody likes you. And finally unwanted? Do you realize how often you've saved all of our skins. We would have been expelled at least three times over by now. You are a part of us, you are just as much of a Marauder as James or Peter or me. You belong here. You belong with us," finished Sirius.

Remus stared at Sirius. No one had ever said anything like that to him before and the fact that it was Sirius who said it made it seem more real. A small tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it away quickly.

"Damn, we are a bunch of girls, aren't we," muttered Sirius as he sat down on his bed.

Remus chuckled softly and leaned against his bed post.

"Did you really think that we were going to ditch you over something you couldn't control?" Sirius asked quietly.

Remus closed his eyes and nodded.

"We deserve more credit than that."

"I know."

As soon as Remus said it the dormitory door flew open and Peter and James came tumbling in.

"Okay we've got it all chocolate bars, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, fudge, and chocolate milk," James said quickly.

"Who died?" Peter asked after looking at Sirius' and Remus' expressions.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "No one Pete."

"Then what the hell happened?" James asked.

Sirius took a deep breath and explained what happened in the few minutes the other two were gone.

"I can't believe all of that happened," Peter said finally, "we weren't gone for that long."

"I can't believe you didn't trust us. Then thought we were going to exile you or something," said James looking truly hurt by what had happened.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that you would act like everyone else does around me," replied Remus while looking at his palms.

Sirius smirked, "Since when have we ever been like everyone else?"

Remus let out a small smile, "That's true."

"Exactly," added James and Peter nodded in agreement.

"Besides Remy," Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius' _loving _nickname for him. "Once a Marauder, always a Marauder."

"Hell yeah! Marauders forever," agreed James.

"So, are we going to eat or let all this good chocolate go to waste?" asked Peter.

"Pete's right, lets dig in," laughed Sirius.

The next morning at breakfast the four boys had an air of closeness around them. Even some of the other students noticed that they were different. But the boys were too busy snickering at Peter to notice the slight extra attention they were receiving.

"I can't believe you still have a stomach ache," Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.

"Oh shut it," Peter said sourly.

James jumped in with Sirius and begun to pick on Peter too. Remus watched in amusement. They were still his friends, they knew the truth and they were still his friends. Hell James and Sirius said they were going find a way to help him, they were going to do research willingly. He then grinned and joined the conversation.

"Hey look!" said Sirius pointing to a boy who was in their year just a ravenclaw.

"Whats he doing?" asked James.

"Who knows," replied Remus.

The boy walked confidently over to the red-headed Lily Evans. And the Marauders heard him say, "Hey Lily, wanna be my girl?" Their eyes widened along with Lily's.

"Are you joking?! I'm twelve years old!" the fiery girl snapped she then threw her pumpkin juice in his face and stalked out of the Great Hall with her nose held high.

"Woah, I guess it really is the quiet ones you have to watch out for," said James and the rest of the boys agreed.


End file.
